However, no matter what you think of the team's decision to take Christian Ponder with the 12th pick in the first round of the draft on Thursday night, the fact is the Vikings feel they have their quarterback of the future. Now, they must turn their attention to addressing plenty of other needs with the eight picks they hold in the final two days.

The Vikings are set to draft 11th in this evening's second round -- it's the 43rd pick overall -- and as of now the team has no third-round pick. That could change if the Vikings are able to swing a trade to get into the third round. Here is a look at the Vikings' remaining picks and keep in mind the compensatory selections can't be traded:

The second round will start at 5 p.m. and teams will have seven minutes between picks.. There will be five minutes between picks in the third round.

Meanwhile, the Vikings will introduce Ponder at a 3 p.m. news conference.

It will be interesting to see what the Vikings will do with their second-round pick. There would seem to be a good chance they will go defense with the selection and it wouldn't be a surprise if Minnesota takes a lineman. Remember, defensive tackle Kevin Williams could be suspended for the first four games of the season after the court ruling on the StarCaps case.

Some of the still available talent (I eliminated quarterbacks and running backs):

DT Marvin Austin, North Carolina

LB Akeem Ayers, UCLA

DE Sam Acho, Texas

DE Da'Quan Bowers, Clemson

LB Bruce Carter, North Carolina

CB Ras-I Dowling, Virginia

CB Brandon Harris, Miami

DE Justin Houston, Georgia

DT Stephen Paea, Oregon State

DE/LB Brooks Reed, Arizona

TE Kyle Rudolph, Notre Dame

DE Jabaal Sheard, Pittsburgh

WR Torrey Smith, Maryland

CB/S Aaron Williams, Texas

WR Titus Young, Boise State

Matt Vensel is in his first year at the Star Tribune after covering the Ravens for the Baltimore Sun for six years. He is a Pittsburgh native and a Penn State grad. Follow him at @mattvensel.

Mark Craig has covered the NFL for 23 years, and the Vikings since 2003 for the Star Tribune. He is one of 44 Pro Football Hall of Fame selectors. Follow him at @markcraignfl.

Master Tesfatsion is the Star Tribune’s digital Vikings writer. He is a 2013 graduate of Arizona State and worked for mlb.com before arriving in Minneapolis. Follow him at @masterstrib.